# There are Nazis in Sweden? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 4, 2019, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-nazis-in-sweden/836491 "2019-07-04T01:39:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-nazis-in-sweden/836491/1 "2019-07-04T01:39:58Z")
Why in the hell do Swedes have a [problem with Jews](https://www.jta.org/quick-reads/swedish-neo-nazis-disrupt-exhibition-of-holocaust-survivors-portraits)? ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-nazis-in-sweden/836491/2 "2019-07-04T01:45:06Z")
It would seem they have a problem with Nazis, not with Jews. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-nazis-in-sweden/836491/3 "2019-07-04T01:52:18Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Why in the hell do Swedes have a [problem with Jews](https://www.jta.org/quick-reads/swedish-neo-nazis-disrupt-exhibition-of-holocaust-survivors-portraits)? …probably for the same reason that Americans have a [problem with Jews?](https://www.newsweek.com/nazis-arkansas-holocaust-russellville-acu-professor-1417832) Is this a serious question? ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-nazis-in-sweden/836491/4 "2019-07-04T02:56:33Z")
For the same reason that a small minority in every country in the world has a problem with Jews. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-nazis-in-sweden/836491/5 "2019-07-04T04:37:33Z")
> [@sisu](#): > > For the same reason that a small minority in every country in the world has a problem with Jews. Do people in nations that aren’t based on abrahamic religions have a problem with the Jews? Of course thats only a handful of nations in Asia who aren’t Abrahamic. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-nazis-in-sweden/836491/6 "2019-07-04T04:44:42Z")
I’ve read that Japan was favorable to Jews during WWII even while allied with the Nazis. Because they had no history of Jews, they also had no history of persecuting Jews, and so their government tried to help Jews. How they actually did it, I am not exactly sure, I’m about to fall asleep and don’t feel like researching it, but I’m just repeating what I’ve read. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-nazis-in-sweden/836491/7 "2019-07-04T04:59:19Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > . . . > Of course thats only a handful of nations in Asia who aren’t Abrahamic. I’m going to assume you’re joking, but just in case you’re not. . .The Abrahamic religion’s adherents account for just over half of the population of Earth. If you’re counting countries, it’s well under half. So, that “handfull” of countries includes almost all of Africa, all of India, and most of Asia. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-nazis-in-sweden/836491/8 "2019-07-04T05:07:36Z")
I give you [Mongolian Nazis](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/aug/02/mongolia-far-right). ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-nazis-in-sweden/836491/9 "2019-07-04T05:32:56Z")
> [@mikecurtis](#): > > I’m going to assume you’re joking, but just in case you’re not. . .The Abrahamic religion’s adherents account for just over half of the population of Earth. If you’re counting countries, it’s well under half. So, that “handfull” of countries includes almost all of Africa, all of India, and most of Asia. Most of Africa is christian or muslim. Nice try though. Also it is nowhere near ‘well under half’ of nations that are abrahamic majority. I believe parts of east, southeast and south asia are about the only parts of the world where abrahamic religions never took hold. I have no idea how many countries that is but I’d guess less than 20-30. The other ~160 nations on earth seem to be abrahamic majority ---
**Author:** ![Skies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Skies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skies)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-nazis-in-sweden/836491/10 "2019-07-04T06:36:45Z")
Not really surprising… despite being a small minority worldwide that generally seems to be pretty harmless, many people at least in the Western World have despised them and wanted to get rid of them constantly through history. With the younger liberal social media types, I think Israel may play a big role on antisemitism (I’m not saying Israel is 100% innocent but many of those types that I’ve seem to aggressively support anything anti-Israel/Zionist/even some Jewish causes). ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-nazis-in-sweden/836491/11 "2019-07-04T06:45:15Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Most of Africa is christian or muslim. Nice try though. Also it is nowhere near ‘well under half’ of nations that are abrahamic majority. > > I believe parts of east, southeast and south asia are about the only parts of the world where abrahamic religions never took hold. I have no idea how many countries that is but I’d guess less than 20-30. The other ~160 nations on earth seem to be abrahamic majority Well, upon further review, it seems that central and sub Saharan Africa is alot more Christian than I thought. And while several of the countries just barely crack the 50% mark, and still more have very low rates of religiosity, I have to concede the point. Most of Africa is Christian or Muslim majority by country. By my quick count, it’s around 40 countries that are not Abrahamic majority. More than a handful, imho, but far less than a majority. Ignorance fought. mc ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-nazis-in-sweden/836491/12 "2019-07-04T10:58:20Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > I’ve read that Japan was favorable to Jews during WWII even while allied with the Nazis. Because they had no history of Jews, they also had no history of persecuting Jews, and so their government tried to help Jews. How they actually did it, I am not exactly sure, I’m about to fall asleep and don’t feel like researching it, but I’m just repeating what I’ve read. There are still [some Japanese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitism_in_Japan) ranting about the “Judaya” today. Much smaller proportion of these particular shitheads per capita than in the West, but they exist. Oh, as for the WW2 history : the Japanese ambassador in Berlin busied himself with making fake documents for Jewish families wishing to get the fuck away from Germany. IIRC he saved some 500 people all told. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-nazis-in-sweden/836491/13 "2019-07-04T12:55:30Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > ist. > > Oh, as for the WW2 history : the Japanese ambassador in Berlin busied himself with making fake documents for Jewish families wishing to get the fuck away from Germany. IIRC he saved some 500 people all told. [Chiune Sugihara](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiune_Sugihara). In fact, he was a vice-consul in Lithuania - and he saved over 5,000 Jews. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-nazis-in-sweden/836491/14 "2019-07-04T13:38:54Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > [Chiune Sugihara](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiune_Sugihara). In fact, he was a vice-consul in Lithuania - and he saved over 5,000 Jews. Thanks for the correction. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-nazis-in-sweden/836491/15 "2019-07-04T14:07:42Z")
> [@mikecurtis](#): > > Well, upon further review, it seems that central and sub Saharan Africa is alot more Christian than I thought. And while several of the countries just barely crack the 50% mark, and still more have very low rates of religiosity, I have to concede the point. Most of Africa is Christian or Muslim majority by country. > By my quick count, it’s around 40 countries that are not Abrahamic majority. More than a handful, imho, but far less than a majority. > Ignorance fought. > > mc Yeah, its surprising how much of the world is abrahamic. Pretty much everywhere that isn’t the middle east, northern africa and parts of asia is christian majority. And the middle east, northern africa and parts of Asia are muslim majority. > **[Christianity by country](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_by_country#/media/File:Christianity_percent_population_in_each_nation_World_Map_Christian_data_by_Pew_Research.svg)** > > As of the year 2021, Christianity had approximately 2.38 billion adherents and is the largest religion by population respectively. According to a PEW estimation in 2020, Christians made up to 2.38 billion of the worldwide population of about 8 billion people.\[a\] It represents nearly one-third of the world's population and is the largest religion in the world, with the three largest groups of Christians being the Catholic Church, Protestantism, and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Christianity is th... [![](https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-cf4e24a1a6c8cae0e9af7ec63176a691.webp) ](https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-cf4e24a1a6c8cae0e9af7ec63176a691.webp) All that really leaves is parts of south asia, east asia and southeast asia that aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-nazis-in-sweden/836491/16 "2019-07-04T14:32:36Z")
Except there are more people in those parts of Asia than in all the rest of the world put together. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-nazis-in-sweden/836491/17 "2019-07-04T14:45:37Z")
These sorts of neo-Nazism aren’t necessarily or solely about Jews. They’re equal opportunity haters, i.e., obsessed with whatever their idea is of a distinct ethnic/racial purity, coupled with authoritarianism, and a tendency towards violence, aimed at whoever seems to be the “other” (currently Muslims, or gays, or “Marxists”, as well as Jews) that they hold conspiratorially responsible for the discrepancy between reality and their fantasy of how the world should be (and maybe once was): a discrepancy that they use to constantly re-inflame their sense of grievance and pre-emptive martyrdom (like all bullies, they love to get their martyrdom in first) at the fact that they know most sane people regard their ideas as repulsive. None of what they’re on about has anything to do with the objective facts around them, of course, so such attitudes can exist in any society. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-nazis-in-sweden/836491/18 "2019-07-04T15:02:26Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > These sorts of neo-Nazism aren’t necessarily or solely about Jews. They’re equal opportunity haters, i.e., obsessed with whatever their idea is of a distinct ethnic/racial purity, coupled with authoritarianism, and a tendency towards violence, aimed at whoever seems to be the “other” (currently Muslims, or gays, or “Marxists”, as well as Jews) that they hold conspiratorially responsible for the discrepancy between reality and their fantasy of how the world should be (and maybe once was): a discrepancy that they use to constantly re-inflame their sense of grievance and pre-emptive martyrdom (like all bullies, they love to get their martyrdom in first) at the fact that they know most sane people regard their ideas as repulsive. As I like to tell my Trump-admiring countrymen: as a rule of thumb, anyone who hates anyone, also hates Jews. People who hate Mexicans - also hate Jews. People who hate gays - also hate Jews. People who hate Muslims - also hate Jews. At the moment, they may hate us a little less than they hate them, but they still hate us. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-nazis-in-sweden/836491/19 "2019-07-04T15:52:49Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > As I like to tell my Trump-admiring countrymen: as a rule of thumb, anyone who hates anyone, also hates Jews. People who hate Mexicans - also hate Jews. People who hate gays - also hate Jews. People who hate Muslims - also hate Jews. At the moment, they may hate us a little less than they hate them, but they still hate us. Yes but that’s just because y’all’m Jews are using yer vast network of immense politico-Hollywoodo-financial influence in order to help Mexicans, or possibly gays, but maybe Muslims too SUBVERT and DESTROY Western civilization ; for reasons that are at the same time too painfully obvious to bother explaining yet nebulously opaque. Kind of like that time y’all’m tricked Hitler into marching millions of yourselves into the gas chambers and inflicted an immense amount of unfathomable pain on yourselves \*just \*so we’d feel sorry for you and this absurd, beyond tragic loss of life and mirth. Which btw also never happened and when it happened it was a good thing and oh god I’ve gone cross-eyed again. What I’m saying is, antisemitism makes quite a lot of sense when you think about it. (just in case it isn’t \*painfully \*obvious at this point, and bearing Poe’s Law in mind : yes, I’m being facetious and making fun of the racist brain trust) ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-nazis-in-sweden/836491/20 "2019-07-04T18:27:13Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > As I like to tell my Trump-admiring countrymen: as a rule of thumb, anyone who hates anyone, also hates Jews. Nitpick to a generally true statement: unless, sometimes, the hater is a Jew. I wish we didn’t have any, but we do have some. – I have also run into at least one person who was convinced that Caucasians and Jews (as in his head two different categories) are smarter than anyone else\*. He appeared to be perfectly serious about this. He was a farm customer; when he made comments like that (he knew my heritage is Jewish, the name I usually go by is a giveaway to anyone who recognizes it) I’d object to them, but he apparently didn’t believe I meant the objections until he came out to the farm one day while I was in town and was met by an intern (and friend) of mine who’s from India and relatively dark. He’d been asking repeatedly when I’d have hot peppers for him, and although I called more than once when I did have them, I never saw him again. OK by me, I don’t want to see him again. \*I’ve since run into this claim online, though not anywhere I was posting; but it’s apparently not just him. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-nazis-in-sweden/836491.md?page=2)